Also they sold part of the land their house was on and
changed the exterior walls.. They had to tell me when we were
sitting in the room that my old roommate Rosemary and I used
as our room since none of the floor plan was the same as the 2
years that we lived with them

Lucho was very proud of
his garden - in a relatively small space he grows everything
you can imagine and a bit more,. While naming it all for us he
saw that the avocado tree was just growing baby avocados which
caused him to clap his hands with joy since he loves avocados.
Rosalia cooked us a very nice lunch, with one of the
best tamales ever as a primer plato, and freshly cooked
vegetables in a salad. Surprising to hear, they boil all their
water, just as the Bendezu's now do. It was wonderful seeing
them again although we're all so much older. Why does this
keep happening?

Something funny happened regarding
food. Nick now likes tomato juice everyday, preferably spicy
as in a Bloody Mary so he asked for it at a restaurant. It
arrived with a garnish, straws and ice but when he started
sipping he made a face - it had been sweetened with sugar. So
next he asked for unsweetened tomato juice, the waiter took it
away and after a while brought back another glass filled with
a frothy deep pick mixture.. It had the most incredible taste!
Exactly like tomatoes, not surprising since they had simply
taken tomatoes, put them in the blender and then strained it.
If you can get good tomatoes try it some time on the rocks.
Delicious!

Nick loved the sun in Arequipa, and there was no place
better to find it than in the Plaza de Armas, the main square
which is large and beautiful with a church taking up one whole
side. Lining the square are colonades with shops, restaurants,
etc. The plaza has been enhanced since my day with more
plantings, and an upgrade to the fountain, more water flow,
but it's still topped by the lively little figure which our
friend Victor said was called "Tuturutu." Since it was spring
the trees were in bloom as well - purple jacarandas, something
coral colored and lots of yellow broom. By the middle of the
day there were so many people there that you had to look hard
to find a bench to sit down.

Actually the sun burned
down so fiercely at 7500 ft. that we decided to go to the
second story of one of the colonnades for some refreshment.
There was a wonderful view of the whole plaza there, and what
do you know, here comes a parade, a large one filling all four
sides of the Plaza's streets with schoolchildren with signs,
and drums. They went around several times, disappearing
completely for a half hour and then returning for another
round. We tried to read the signs from above and it seemed to
be about more severe punishment for criminals, also for peace
and for an end to crime.

We puzzled over the motive
for the parade. Later in the day while taking a taxi I
asked the chofer what this was all about. He said "It's
against the President of the country." This didn't tie
into the signs

at all; it's still a mystery, one that could only be
solved by living in Peru.

Another day up in the
colonnades, another parade. Whole bands were in this one and
it was very exciting, the way parades often are. This one was
the anniversary of the Alliance Francaise' founding in
Arequipa. There was a loudspeaker and at one point they had
speakers congratulating the Aliance first in Quetchuan, then
in Aymara (used in the Southern Andes including Bolivia) ,
then Spanish, etc., ending up with Chinese and Korean. The
main speaker made the point that the parade was also to
celebrate all the world's languages. Where else would one ever
see hundreds of people in a parade to celebrate languages!

The Sol de Mayo is a restaurant in Yanahuara a
district of the city with natural elevation where they've
built a beautiful "mirador", a set of arches with very
interesting carving that show off the scene behind - Misti,
Pichu-Pichu, and Chachani. We asked Lucho and Rosalia
Huanaiqui to eat there with us. Walking into the entrance off
the street leads to a large open space with beautifully tended
grass and a kind of arcade around it. The tables are under the
arches and on the grass. Waiters can be seen running lightly
over the grass with trays. There are musicians as well. It's
very pricey for Peruvians (but not at all in dollars), and
seemed like it would be a nice treat for them.